Profile image
Military service
Service number:
R/197961
Age:
24
Rank:
Warrant Officer Class II
Force:
Air Force
Unit/Regiment:
Royal Canadian Air Force
Division:
298 Sqdn.
Death:
March 31, 1945
Burial/memorial information
Grave reference:
Panel 281.
Additional information
Son of David and Effie Buzza, of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; husband of Mary Buzza, of Vancouver.
Digital gallery of Warrant Officer Class II James Alexander Buzza
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Halifax Aircraft
Photo Halifax aircraft towing glider. 298 Sqdn flew converted Halifax V aircraft that could tow heavily laden gliders. On the first night of D-Day they lifted Horsa gliders with infantry troops under the command of Maj. John Howard. This operation is now commonly known as Pegasus Bridge and is shown in the movie The Longest Day. On 17th Sept 1944, 298 Sqdn participated in the lift of the 1st Airborne Division to Arnhem in Operation Market Garden which is portrayed in the movie A Bridge Too Far. On 24 Mar 1945, their Halifaxes towed twenty-four Hamilcars and five Horsas for the Rhine river crossing. The Sqdn then reverted to its *SAS/SOE resupply role, which now largely concerned only Norway and Denmark. In a sortie on 30th Mar 1945, Halifax PN 243 was lost in the waters off Norway. A/G WO2 Buzza was the only member of the RCAF on the crew. *Special Air Service; Special Operations Executive (http://www.pegasusarchive.org/arnhem/batt_298.htm) -
Runnymeade Memorial
Runnymede Memorial WO2 Buzza and the crew of RAF Halifax PN 243 were lost in the waters off Norway. Their names are commemorated on the panels of the Runnymede Memorial to those with no known grave. -
Id Card
Submitted for the project, Operation Picture Me -
Memorial
Inscription - Runnymede Memorial - April 2017 … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Newspaper clipping
From a World War 2 issue of the Vancouver Province c.May 1945. Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Newspaper clipping
Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Warrant Officer Class II James Alexander Buzza
Digital gallery of
Warrant Officer Class II James Alexander Buzza
Digital gallery of
Warrant Officer Class II James Alexander Buzza
Digital gallery of
Warrant Officer Class II James Alexander Buzza
Digital gallery of
Warrant Officer Class II James Alexander Buzza
Digital gallery of
Warrant Officer Class II James Alexander Buzza
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 500 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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